Wales 13 South Africa 23

Date:  26 Nov 2000
Venue:  Cardiff-Millennium Stadium
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Walsh s.jnr

At a packed Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Sunday afternoon, South Africa scored 10 points in injury time to not only keep new Springbok coach Harry Viljoen's hundred per cent Test record, but extract revenge for last year's shock loss to Wales in Cardiff with a 23-13 victory.

In a desperately tight match, that perfect Viljoen record looked in constant threat as his side battled to come to grips with the wet conditions and an uncompromisingly physical Welsh side.

Viljoen's request for the stadium roof to be shut fell on deaf ears, and the rain-soaked Cardiff pitch was more reminiscent of the classic 1970s bogs of the old Cardiff Arms Park, resulting in a stifled game for the expansive Boks, and a plethera of handling errors.

That South Africa won by ten points seems a travesty given the relentless probing and commitment of the Welsh, who went in at the break deservedly 10-6 in the lead, and tied at 13 - 13 with less than five minutes to go.

The Springbok rally came despite being a man down after Robbie Fleck was eventually sin-binned for his constant and needless illegal challenges.

In that period, Breyton Paulse, who had barely seen the ball the entire game, finally sniped through the defence and ultimately set up a penalty that Braam van Straaten converted from point blank range.

Three minutes later he sealed the win when he sliced the Welsh defence in two with one of his characteristically jinxing runs.

All this excitement though, only came at the end.  On Saturday, Viljoen warned that the game would degenerate into a kicking exercise.  After this performance, he is certainly a man of his word.

Apart from the kicking though, South Africa made far too many mistakes.  Were it not for England's sub-standard performance against Argentina the day before, Viljoen would have been an extremely worried man going into next Saturday's Test in London.  As it is, he is probably merely worried at the moment.

South Africa opened the scoring through Van Straaten in the fourth minute with a penalty after a string of rolling mauls was only halted 10 metres from the Welsh line when the visitors were blown up for going over the top.

Wales had a chance to respond eight minutes later when South Africa, under immediate pressure in the scrums, were blown up for the second time for scrumming up.  Neil Jenkins, uncharacteristically, pushed the kick wide, but two minutes later Jenkins did equalise when the Boks were penalised for going off-side.

South Africa countered immediately.  Despite three golden opportunities to score though, they failed to capitalise.  First, Delport's scorching run down the left touchline was stopped less than a metre from the tryline by a magnificent covering tackle from Gareth Thomas.

Albert van den Berg spoilt the resultant lineout, but when South Africa swung it wide, they knocked on.

Fortune was still egging them on though.  The Boks won the tighthead, but Joost van der Westhuizen dropped the ball and Rob Howley hacked it forward.

The Boks, in turn, were called upon to put in some desperate tackles.

They hung on and Van Straaten restored them to the lead with his second penalty.

In the meantime, Chester Williams had replaced Pieter Rossouw on the left-wing.  He first managed to lose the ball in the tackle, and then kneed the ball into touch in his own 22 when it was clearly going there, unaided, from a Welsh boot.

From the lineout, Wales punched through the midfield and Scott Gibbs, enroute to the tryline, shoved Van der Westhuizen into the mud before diving over.  The Jenkins conversion gave the Welsh a 10-6 lead as they ran up the tunnel.

South Africa, having soaked up much of the early second half pressure induced by the Welsh, started playing with a conviction they had failed to show in the first half.

They won a number of five metre scrums and eventually Van der Westhuizen found a way over after Andre Vos had picked from the base of the scrum and driven forward.

Arwel Thomas, much to the crowd's delight, replaced Jenkins and within a minute of his coming on, stepped up to slot a 40 metre penalty to level the scores.

Buoyed by that early success, Thomas attempted two drop kicks and a penalty from slap in front of the poles, all of which missed by some margin.

As injury time ticked away, those misses were to prove particularly costly.

Man of the match:  Andre Venter.  So often the unsung hero of the South African cause.  Venter was brilliant in the wet conditions.  He never missed a tackle, always made ground when on the drive and, when AJ Venter replaced Albert van den Berg, took his ball in the lineout.  To top it all, it was his initial beak that set up the penalty that put the Boks into the lead in the 81st minute.

Moment of the match:  Venter breaking at least two tackles and surging through the gap.  His break finally gave the Boks the thrust to strike the knockout blow.

Villain of the match:  Definitely Robbie Fleck.  He behaved like a hyper-active child on the field and his foul play was not only palpably in bad taste, but immensely daft as well.  He is far too talented a player to be reduced to that level.

The scorers

Wales:  Try by Scott Gibbs.  Neil Jenkins kicked one conversion and one penalty and Arwel Thomas kicked one penalty.

South Africa:  Tries by Joost van der Westhuizen and Breyton Paulse.  Braam van Straaten kicked two conversions and three penalties.

England 19 Argentina 0

Date:  25 Nov 2000
Venue:  Twickenham
Attendance:  60000
Referee:  Lewis a.

After a troubled week off the field, England put in an uninspiring performance in poor conditions to beat Argentina by 19-0.

Like the week that preceded it, this match is probably best forgotten by all true fans of English rugby.  While shocking conditions at Twickenham probably contributed to the lack of spectacle, the England team -- who days earlier had threatened to withdraw their labour over a pay dispute with the Rugby Football Union -- looked listless, unfocused and generally off their game.  In fact, had their fee for his outing been strictly performance related, the men in white would have been in receipt of a sum approximating to a round of beers in one of the stadium's many bars.

But it would be churlish to criticise England too harshly as it belittles the efforts of a battling Argentina side who refused to be swept aside and battled for every inch on the muddy Twickenham turf.  While they looked a little one-dimensional at times with their brand of 'up-the-middle', driving rugby, it was only the poor kicking performance of Gonzalo Quesada which had prevented the Pumas from drawing level

It was only when they were reduced to 14 men after Felipe Contepomi was yellow-carded that the Pumas' defensive wall started to show cracks.  In the 69th minute, a solid England scrum in the Pumas 22 allowed Wilkinson to grubber the ball behind the Puma defence.  The ball bounced off the post and Ben Cohen was on hand to seize on the ball and drive over for the only try of the contest.  Wilkinson was on target with the conversion to make it 19-nil and with his efficient personal display put himself into the history books as the youngest Test player to reach the 300 points barrier.

Just five minutes later England replacement Will Greenwood put Dan Luger in space and he flew down the left hand touchline.  It seemed that nothing could stop the hero of last week's victory over Australia, but a brilliant tackle from Ignacio Corletto stopped the Saracen in his tracks.

England had actually started at a fair pace, storming into the opposition's territory to enable fly-half Jonny Wilkinson to put his side up by 3-0 after just a minute when the Pumas came up offside.  But after that flying start, a litany of penalties went against them but the normally metronomic Quesada clearly hadn't packed his kicking boots and missed three penalties in the first half.

England who could only add a further Wilkinson penalty plus a drop goal to go into the break 9-0 to the good.

England continued to exert pressure throughout the second half and were laying siege to the Argentine line for the final quarter before running out of time.  It was not a vintage performance but one they will take satisfaction from, especially given the off-field happenings and the fact they succeeded in preventing the Pumas from registering any points.  Argentina could conjure few scoring opportunities of their own, although Ignacio Corletto did have one scorching run in the 61st minute, wrong-footing Cohen and dancing down the left touchline -- only a despairing Mike Catt tap-tackle preventing England's blushes.

But there are serious question marks hanging over England's creative ability in the backline.  They clearly have a number of exciting strike-runners in the likes of Iain Balshaw, Dan Luger and Ben Cohen but seem unable to craft scoring opportunities for them.  Balshaw, in particular, was particularly under-utilised in this match, more often receiving the ball from Argentine kicks rather than a team-mate's pass.

That said, the Bath flyer did squander a certain try during the second half, opting to go for individual glory in a two-on-one situation rather than pass to an unmarked Cohen on his outside.  That is the sort of decision which will need to addressed in the run-up to the upcoming Springbok Test.

England skipper Martin Johnson offered no excuses for the lacklustre efforts by his team.  "It was an extraordinary game.  Conditions were terrible and our skill let us down.  It was very difficult but there are no excuses.  It was not good enough.  A few overlaps went begging on a day when it was difficult to control the ball.  We could have moved it a lot more but kicked it.  What happened this week happened and there are no excuses for our performance."

Man of the Match:  Backrower Richard Hill was one of the few England players to consistently breach the gain-line against the Pumas and made a number of telling breaks before he was replaced late in the second half.  Hill also did a magnificent job in stopping the big Argentine forwards charging up the middle.

Scorers:
For England:  Try:  Ben Cohen.  Jonny Wilkinson kicked one conversion, three penalties and one drop-goal.

Italy 19 New Zealand 56

Date:  25 Nov 2000
Venue:  Genova
Attendance:  33000
Referee:  Davies r.

The touring New Zealand side ended their European tour on a winning note on Saturday, beating Italy 56-19 in a keenly contested Test in Genoa.

While the All Blacks won with ease, scoring eight tries to two, it was not a vintage performance and Italy, who lost their best player, scrum-half, Alessandro Troncon in the opening minute to a head injury, can take some pride in their show.

It was a vast improvement on their 101-3 defeat to the All Blacks in last year's World Cup, especially since they were hit by a hammer blow in the opening minute of the match when Troncon was injured in a ruck on his own 22 metre line.

He was attended to on the pitch for two minutes and was clearly confused by a blow to the head but there was no way he could continue and he was replaced by Filippo Frati.  His performance in a previous international with Canada was so indifferent that coach Brad Johnstone was forced to swallow his pride and recall Troncon whom he had dropped on a matter of principle.

So it was no surprise when stand-off Carlos Spencer, taking over from all-time leading New Zealand points scorer Andrew Mehrtens, popped over two early penalties to give the All Blacks a 6-0 lead.

Ramiro Pez, who had earlier missed a simple attempt, reduced the score to 6-3 with a penalty of his own for Italy but then the All Blacks scored the first try of the match with their first fluent back move of the half.

Centre Pita Alatini's pass found the opening, setting up winger Bruce Reihana who touched down for a try converted by Spencer.

That put the All Blacks 13-3 ahead but Pez quickly reduced arrears with two penalties as Italy's forwards put their opponents under real pressure.

They came close to a try with Welsh referee Robert Davies eventually awarding New Zealand a scrum on their own five-yard line just as it looked as though Italy would find the gap.  Even Frati was doing his bit with a far more convincing performance than against Canada.  Pez too had missed two relatively easy kicks for Italy although his positional kicking from hand was much better.

But while the half-backs were not quite up to the task Italy's front row of Andrea Muraro, Alessandro Moscardi and Andrea Lo Cicero -- much improved under the tutelage of former All Black prop Johnstone -- were excelling.

But six minutes before the break the All Blacks finally imposed themselves with two tries, the first of which sparked a furious brawl.

Scrum-half Justin Marshall made the initial break down the middle and flanker Filo Tiatia reaped the benefit touching down under a rough tackle from Frati.  That prompted the brawl with virtually all the players involved and boots, punches and headbutts flying around though no-one was penalised.

Then the All Blacks pulled further clear with their best passing move yet eventually letting in Auckland's Doug Howlett, who breached the line with this time the points being added by Spencer, who had led his team in the Haka just before the kick-off.

After the interval Italy centre Luca Martin was sin binned and the Kiwis quickly took advantage with Reihana, who replaced the injured Jonah Lomu for the second Test with France last Saturday, dummying full-back Christian Stoica and touching down in the corner for his second try.  Finally it was beginning to look as one-sided as had been predicted before the match and Spencer set up Ron Cribb for another try which this time was converted.

But Italy then delighted the big crowd at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium by scoring a try.  It was no surprise that it was the forwards who produced the score with the pack driving over from a penalty and Lo Cicero coming up with the ball under a pile of players.

Although then a solo try from half-back Marshall, who ran in unopposed, finally quietened the crowd down.  Now the All Blacks were beginning to showboat and man-of-the-match Christian Cullen created the opening for Spencer to score a try which he then converted.

No. 8 Cribb grabbed his second -- also converted -- before the match ended on a high note for the hosts as replacement Stefano Saviozzi touched down after another pack move in injury time.

It was Italy who took a lap of honour after a gutsy performance which will only further be boosted by the return of talismanic fly-half Diego Dominguez for the Six Nations Tournament in January.

Italy 19 All Blacks 56 (H-t: 9-25)

Italy:  Cristian Stoica; Massimiliano Perziano, Luca Martin, Giovanni Raineri, Denis Dallan; Ramiro Pez, Alessandro Troncon; Riccardo Piovan, Carlo Caione, Maurizio Zaffiri; Wilhelmus Visser, Andrea Gritti; Andrea Muraro, Alessandro Moscardi (capt), Andrea Lo Cicero Replacements used:  Giacomo Preo, Filippo Frati, Stefano Saviozzi, Andrea De Rossi, Luca Mastrodomenico, Tino Paoletti,
Replacement not used:  Nicola Mazzucato

Tries:  Lo Cicero, Saviozzi, Penalties:  Pez (3)

New Zealand:  Christian Cullen; Doug Howlett, Tana Umaga, Pita Alatini, Bruce Reihana; Carlos Spencer, Justin Marshall; Ron Cribb, Scott Robertson, Filo Tiatia; Tory Flavell, Todd Blackadder (capt); Greg Somerville, Anton Oliver, Greg Feek
Replacements used:  Andrew Mehrtens, Jason O'Halloran, Taine Randell, Norm Maxwell, Gordon Slater
Replacements not used:  Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher

Tries; Reihana (2), Tiatia, Howlett, Cribb (2), Marshall, Spencer.  Conversions:  Spencer (5).  Penalties:  Spencer (2)

Sin Bins Italy -- Martin 44, Lo Cicero 70

Attendance:  33,000
Referee:  Robert Davies (Wal)

South Africa 28 Ireland 18

Any Ireland hopes of a first victory over South Africa in 35 years were dashed as they were beaten 28-18 in an entertaining encounter at Lansdowne Road.

It was an enthralling match.  Sometimes the enthralment was just to see how the Springboks would disentangle themselves from their quick little passes in desperate straits.  They passed near their line, they passed going backwards -- it was a case of carry on passing.

It was magnificent but was it rugby?  At times it seemed that the pass was an achievement of its own, instead of a means to improvement, to going somewhere.  At times there was a desperate need for something direct.  There were wonderfully direct moments, Thinus Delport running with acceleration and deception out of defence, Pieter Rossouw racing downfield at all sorts of angles from his own corner-flag, Braam van Straaten hoofing ahead and with great determination winning the ball that became Corné Krige's try.

In the midst of so many passes there shall not want error and that happened and yet the forwards somehow managed to get possession back.  Which was just as well as the Irish were telling on the run.  Both their tries were moments of splendour on the turf.  Their running was more organised than that of the Springboks with Brian O'Driscoll to add the spark.  An repeatedly they attacked the Springboks' right flank where Chester Williams found it hard to keep up.

The Springboks struggled with bits of organisation, especially at line-out and kick-off time.  The Irish line-outs were immaculate, those of the Springboks a matter of hit-and-miss.

As penalties proliferated at the start, the Springboks, wind at their backs, exerted pressure and Percy Montgomery's left boot put them ahead 6-0.  The Springboks did well at picking and driving and when held up on the Irish line, Joost van der Westhuizen squirreled over for a try which Montgomery converted.  It seemed that the Springboks were on course for a sound victory as, surely, the Irish defence could not last forever.

Last it did.  The Springboks bungled a kick-off and the Irish got back into the game.  Ronan O'Gara kicked a penalty of dubious validity as it seemed to veer outside the right upright, but Ed Morrison said it was over.  Later he got entangled in the Irish goal area when the ball struck him and Pieter Rossouw may have scored.  But by then the Irish were back.

They sped down the left wing, chipped and chased and Dennis Hickey easily won the sprint for the try.  They nearly had another in similar fashion, but the ball went too far at the kick ahead.  Thinus Delport's action after the kick landed him in the sinbin, where Peter Clohessy and Robbie Kempson had been before him.  Till the fullback's return the Springboks operated with only six backs.

After the interval Braam van Straaten came on for Robbie Fleck who later came back for Grant Esterhuizen.

Van Straaten and Esterhuizen combined to produce the next Springbok try as Van Straaten hoofed a dropped ball through, pounded after it, dived to won it.  Eventually Esterhuizen did a scrumhalf dive to Rossouw who turned inside before giving to Krige on his outside for the trough, hard-working flank to squeeze over in the corner.  South Africa led 18-13.

Then the Irish broke again when Dennis Hickie came round form the right wing and Tyrone Howe went down the left touchline to score -- a simple move straight from a line-out, no frills, just direct, well-organised rugby.

And so it came to pass, sure, that the score was 18-18 and the crowd was excited.  At that score the Springboks were awarded a penalty in front of the Irish posts, close in.  Symbolic of the modern Springbok approach, Albert van den Berg tapped and legged it to the Irish line, where it became a scrum.  But there had been something naughty and back they went to a penalty some 6m from touch.  And, yet again, Braam van Straaten kicked it over.

Back came the Springboks with a sudden burst of enthusiasm to batter at the Irish line till a pass went wide to Venter who lunged over at the posts.

The match ended soon afterwards and the rainbow came down behind the Irish posts.

It was a match, not a war, where the Springboks' main battle was to master the skills to play the thrilling game they want to play.

Afterwards Keith Woods, great but comparatively subdued as the Springboks kept tabs on him, said:  "I'm not happy.  We could have won it."

Man of the match:  Hard to call -- Joost van der Westhuizen was on the way back to being his effective best.  André Venter was so determined and with a new-found ability to distribute.  Thinus Delport had magic though he blotted his copybook with a yellow card.  Robbie Kempson who scrummed with dedication also spoilt his performance with a yellow card.  Brian O'Driscoll with the dancing feetis a centre of rare ability in world rugby, as he showed, but then it was his mistake thagt led to Corné Krige's try.  And that is our man of the match -- firm in the tackle, strong in the drive running well and being in exactly the right place to score a most telling try -- Corné Krige.

Villain of the match:  Not the three holders of yellow cards, for it was a match without malice.  Perhaps there were ageing folk who were on the field who were not up to standard, but then they did not put themselves there.  Perhaps there were no villains.

Defining moment:  The try which Braam started and Corné ended.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Percy Montgomery, 11 Pieter Rossouw, 12 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Chester Williams, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  Ollie Le Roux, Braam Van Straaten
Unused:  A.J. Venter, Deon Kayser, Hottie Louw, Charl Marais, Dan Van Zyl

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Gary Longwell, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Eric Miller, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Rob Henderson, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Tyrone Howe, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Shane Horgan, David Humphreys, Justin Fitzpatrick, Andy Ward
Unused:  Paddy Johns, Brian O'Meara, Frankie Sheahan

Referee:  Lander s.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Krige C.J.P. 1, Van Der Westhuizen J. 1, Venter A.G. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 1, Van Straaten A.J.J. 1
Pen K.:  Montgomery P.C. 2, Van Straaten A.J.J. 1

Ireland
Tries:  Hickie D.A. 1, Howe T.G. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R. 1
Pen K.:  O'Gara R. 2

France 42 New Zealand 33

Date:  18 Nov 2000
Venue:  Marseilles
Attendance:  Not Recorded
Referee:  Kaplan j.

The golden boot of Christophe Lamaison finally tipped this enthralling international at the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles in favour of France, allowing the home team to square the series against New Zealand with a 42-33 victory.

In this often breathtaking encounter, France had a 17-0 advantage after 10 minutes, wiped out by the enterprising All Blacks who established a 30-26 lead going into the final quarter.

But it was the unpredictable French who produced the smarter, more effective rugby in the closing stages.

After halfback Fabien Galthie had sent the French fans into raptures by being driven across for a try from an attacking lineout, a superbly engineered effort that restored France's lead, Lamaison provided the trimmings.

First he slotted the wide-angle conversion, then he slammed over a magnificent penalty goal from halfway and, in the tense final stages, as the All Blacks sought desperately to conjure up a matchwinning try, he coolly slotted two dropped goals.

In a magnificent game of rugby, the French and the All Blacks scored three tries each with Lamaison's haul of 27 points (he didn't miss once from 10 attempts) representing the difference at the finish.

It was one point fewer than Lamaison scored in France's stunning World Cup semi-final victory at Twickenham last November when he also scored a try to go with his nine goals.

The French were irresistible in the opening stanza, rocking the All Blacks with tries by Xavier Garbajosa (who started on the wing after David Bory was a late withdrawal) and Olivier Magne in the first eight minutes.

When Lamaison, who slotted both conversions from wide angles, then added a penalty goal the All Blacks were in big trouble, 17 points down.

All Blacks relish back-to-the-wall situations and over the next 40 minutes they turned the match so comprehensively, scoring three tries and making capital off Andrew Mehrtens' astute kicking, that a repeat of their Paris victory the previous weekend appeared inevitable.

However, the French weren't spent.  The introduction of experienced internationals Christian Califano and Olivier Brouzet for the final 30 minutes made a significant difference.

The All Black backs were slicker and more dangerous but in the final quarter of the game they saw precious little possession going forward as the French forwards lifted their effort.

The French should have wrapped up the game at 36-30 but inside centre Franck Comba went alone with players unmarked outside him and was hauled down metres from the goalposts with arguably the tackle of the match by hooker Anton Oliver.

That allowed the All Blacks to stay alive but although they tried everything in the final stages they couldn't find a way through the French defence and eventually the lineout problems, which have beset them throughout the year, proved their undoing.

When replacement hooker Mark Hammett's throw five metres from his own line plopped sweetly into Brouzet's hands it set up Lamaison's first droppie and another botched lineout in the final seconds presented Lamaison with another match-sealing three pointer.

The All Blacks undoubtedly missed Jonah Lomu on the left wing.  Although his replacement Bruce Reihana was enterprising, he lacked the power and dynamism that Lomu brings to the position.

However, Doug Howlett on the other wing was one of the stars of the game, using his speed and elusiveness to set up New Zealand's first try for Justin Marshall and outsprinted the defence for No 2.

In the final assessment, it was the strength and commitment of the French forwards, where captain Fabien Pelous, No 8 Christophe Juillet and flanker Magne were outstanding, complemented by Lamaison's boot that brought about a memorable victory.

MAN OF THE MATCH:  Has to be Christophe Lamaison who aggregated 27 points with a 100 per cent goalkicking and dropkicking record and who also controlled play intelligently from flyhalf.  A top performance also from captain Fabien Pelous.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH:  Although there were more spectacular tries, with Marshall's effort after an 80-metre counter attack the best, halfback Galthie's try after he was brilliantly driven across the goalline from an attacking lineout represented the major turning point in the game.  Not that there weren't several turning points prior to that as the All Blacks came back from nil-17 to lead 30-26.

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH:  A couple of hot-headed displays from the French, with centre Richard Dourthe the major villain, which could have proved costly.  Far from acknowledging that the pile-driving tackle on him by Tana Umaga was a masterly effort, Dourthe responding by attacking him physically.

Scorers:

France:  Tries by Xavier Garbajosa, Olivier Magne and Fabien Galthie; Three conversions, five penalty goals and two dropped goals by Christophe Lamaison.

New Zealand:  Tries by Justin Marshall, Doug Howlett and Gordon Slater; Three conversions and four penalty goals by Andrew Mehrtens.

Italy 37 Romania 17

Date:  18 Nov 2000
Venue:  Benevento
Attendance:  3260
Referee:  Jutge j.

Despite a run of poor form, Italy pulled off a fine 37-17 win over Romania in Benevento to give their beleaguered Kiwi coach Brad Johnstone a shot in the arm.

In a much improved performance from last week's 22-17 defeat by Canada at Rovigo, Italy, who scored seven tries to Romania's two, will now approach next week's Genoa meeting with mighty New Zealand in much better shape.

The victory was built on the successful half-back pairing of scrum-half Alessandro Troncon and stand-off Ramiro Pez and only dreadful kicking by Italy -- who managed to put just one conversion between the posts -- prevented a more humiliating scoreline for the visitors.

Troncon was recalled for this match by Johnstone who had hitherto refused to pick the Montferrand player since the Six Nations Championship because he had snubbed a summer tour of the south Pacific.

The New Zealander had no doubts about the number nine's ability -- he admits he is the best player at his disposal -- but after Troncon's replacement against Canada Filippo Frati was clearly out of his depth Johnstone decided to swallow his pride and recall the player.

But there was also some encouraging work by the forwards who have benefited from the advice of Johnstone, a prop when he played for the All Blacks.

The front three of Andrea Lo Cicero, hooker and skipper Alessandro Moscardi and Andrea Muraro are beginning to look a formidable unit -- Italy have traditionally struggled in the scrum and line-out.

And the first-half saw all three Italian tries come from the forwards.  Flanker Carlo Caione grabbed a brace and tight-head prop Lo Cicero one as the hosts romped to a 15-3 interval lead with only a Petre Mitu penalty in reply.

In the second period it was the turn of Italy's backs to prosper and a minute after the resumption Giovanni Raineri crossed the line, shortly followed by another touchdown, this time by Pez.

Luca Martin got in on the act after 55 minutes with his try converted by Giacomo Preo -- Italy's only successful conversion -- to make it 32-3.

That finally stirred Romania into life and Erdinci Septar grabbed his side's first try, converted by Mitu.

Troncon then snatched the try he had deserved before Vasile Ghioc came up with a late touchdown, also converted by Mitu, to give the score a semblance of respectability for Romania.

Scotland 31 Samoa 8

Date:  18 Nov 2000
Venue:  Murrayfield
Attendance:  43447
Referee:  Hyde-lay i.

Scotland, showing four changes from the side beaten by the Wallabies last week, bounced back this week to ease to a 31-8 victory against Samoa.

The Scots scored four tries through John Petrie, Alan Bulloch, Tom Smith, and the recalled Kenny Logan, who had another disallowed early on.

The other points were all kicked by fly-half Gregor Townsend with the Scots keeping Samoa pointless afterleading 14-8 at the interval.

Scotland coach Ian McGeechan revealed a tactical switch at the interval helped his side run out 31-8 over Samoa at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Scotland were only 14-8 ahead at half-time but three second-half tries saw the home side emerge fairly comfortable winners.

He said:  "We tried to force the game in the first half and sometimes lost our momentum as a result.  We changed things at half-time and I thought we took the game away from Samoa.

"We were playing too much in front of them in the first half and wanted to turn them and move them from front to back and also from side to side.  We did that well and chose good options around our 22."

McGeechan believes his pre-match prediction that the Pacific Islanders would be a tough nut to crack proved correct.

He said:  "I am very pleased with the end result.  I said yesterday Samoa were somewhere between the USA and Australia and I think that has been proved to be right.

"In difficult conditions we conducted a good tactical game.  We don't have a roof we can close so we have to play with conditions as they are.

"The weather loses two seconds out of the game so I thought we made the best of them.  We were very organised without the ball.  Once we got a chance of a turnover we got the ball away well.  Alan Bulloch's try was a very good proactive, reactive try."

McGeechan is also very positive for the future development of his side.

He said:  "If you add the New Zealand game to these three we are a long way to where we want to be.  The players are more comfortable with our way of playing and we have a good prop of players.  The nice thing is that the players are asking when the next training session is.  Mind you that might be so they can avoid it!"

Samoa captain Onehunga Matatauiau believes Scotland can mount a successful Six Nations challenge next year after seeing his brave side go down at Murrayfield.

He said:  "I think they'll go well in that competition.  They are getting better and better with every game.  I played against them last year at Hawkes Bay so I can compare.

"The forwards are very hungry for the ball and half-back Townsend and John Leslie are going well together.  They are on the right track.

"The Scots were very much harder to play than Wales.  Last week (against Wales) we had so many players playing for the first time it was so difficult.  Scotland have got so much more up their sleeves in attack and defence."

Wales 42 United States 11

Date:  18 Nov 2000
Venue:  Cardiff-Millennium Stadium
Attendance:  33000
Referee:  Ramage i.

At the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales laboured to an unconvincing 42-11 victory over the United States in their final game before their daunting Test match with South Africa.

Coach Graham Henry had warned his side to give him an 80 minute performance following a stop-start display against a weakened Samoa last time out.

But this was hardly the response he was looking for with angry fans calling for his head close to the end.

Also in the spotlight was fly-half Arwel Thomas, who bore the brunt of Henry's criticism last week and the pressure told with the Swansea man missing one penalty and one conversion.

Wales were given an early scare when Grant Wells put a 30-yard penalty wide after just five minutes from in front of the posts.

That was the cue for Wales to wake up from their early lethargy and Chris Wyatt burst through a crowd of players before being thwarted by a last-ditch tackle after eight minutes.

But Dafydd James went over in the corner after 11 minutes following a pass from Thomas only for the fly-half to then send his conversion wide of the far post.

The Eagles continued to defend bravely but could not prevent skipper Mark Taylor scoring Wales second try after 25 minutes.  He squeezed just inside the touchline and this time Thomas made no mistake with the conversion, stroking the ball over from a tight angle.

Before the break, Thomas scored two more penalties, the first a long-range effort, and Wells notched three points in between.

The USA trailed 18-3 at the interval but quickly reduced that when Malakai Delai outstripped the Welsh defence after 44 minutes and ran the ball home Although Wells hooked his conversion wide, he made amends with a penalty after 53 minutes.

Two minutes later, Thomas showed a flash of brilliance as he confused the American defence with a feint before finishing the move off and then converting.

Wales then stepped up the tempo with Rhys Williams scoring after 59 minutes.  Thomas skied the conversion and that was his last significant act as he was brought off and replaced by Neil Jenkins with 14 minutes to go.

Jenkins' first act was to skew a conversion wide following James' second try of the afternoon but Wales' record point scorer had the final say.

The Cardiff man converted his own try in stoppage time to put a flattering gloss on the scoreline -- but the result could not hide Wales' many deficiencies.

England 22 Australia 19

Date:  18 Nov 2000
Venue:  Twickenham
Attendance:  74000
Referee:  Watson a.

In a match that went all the way to the wire, England effected an unlikely last second 22-19 victory over Australia to lift the Cook Cup for the first time.

Surely no match could have ended in such dramatic fashion.  Deep into injury time the match seemed to be following a familiar script of brave England running out of steam and succumbing to the hyper-efficient Wallaby machine.  But after a full five minutes of injury, a few seconds of brilliance by replacement wing Iain Balshaw and Dan Luger enabled England to snatch an unlikely victory and win the Cook Cup for the first time in their history.

With seconds of the match left, Balshaw chipped ahead into the left hand corner behind the Wallaby line and Luger outpaced Wallaby scrum-half Sam Cordingley to make the touchdown as Twickenham erupted in celebration.  But there followed an agonising wait as referee Andre Watson called for video ref Brian Stirling to make a decision.  Stirling duly rubber-stamped the score and, after Wilkinson's brilliant touchline conversion, the celebrations could begin in earnest.

It was not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but England coach Clive Woodward will not mind one iota, as England's development takes another giant step following the drawn series in South Africa over the weekend.

Australia, under pressure from England for most of the first half as the men in white dominated both territory and possession, knuckled down to their game-plan and patiently soaked up a battering from the opposition.  The Australian defence was once again awesome, England continually forced to kick away posssession as the Wallaby midfield trio kept a tight rein on them.

At times Australia had looked ragged in the first half, but in the second it was a completely different story.  The introduction of Nathan Grey and Damian Smith galvanised the Wallaby effort with the World Champions clicked into gear.  Roff, making his 61st appearance in the green and gold jersey, was the best player on the pitch by quite some margin, his lines of running and general all-round athletic ability making him every Englishman's nightmare all afternoon.

It was the veteran who broke the defensive stalemate for the first time, racing away down the left, throwing off the tackle of Austin Healey before deftly slipping the ball to Matt Burke for the first try of the match.  That made it 16-12.  A penalty moments later put Australia up to 19-12 and the alarm bells were ringing for England as the vistors looked like getting away.

England responded well with Wilkinson making a break in the Australian 22, only for a knock on to stunt a promising move.  Bracken scragged Cordingley from the ensuing scrum before Wilkinson launched a kick.  It was a great passage for England as they battered the Wallaby line through the likes of Hill, Johnson and Dalaglio.

A penalty eventually came their way and Wilkinson made it 19-15 after 55 minutes.  With fresh legs on the wing in the shape of Bath's Balshaw, it was England's turn to attack.  But time and time again the Australians were able to scrabble away the ball to nullify the English threat.

Part of the problem was the absence of quick ruck ball, Bracken having to wait what seemed like an age at the base of rucks before he could swing it out.  Some of England's passing also left much to be desired, too many times players having to slow down in order to take the pass.  In contrast the Australia strike runners were able to explode onto the ball thanks to pinpoint passing from the likes of Cordingley and Kafer.

Dawson entered the fray for England in the final quarter and his presence gave England more impetus around the base, keeping the Australian back row constantly on their toes with his sniping runs and laying off intelligent short pops to his forwards that made inroads into the Wallaby defence.

In the dying moments of the match, tension reached fever pitch with Wallaby fullback Chris Latham sin-binnned for repeated "professional fouls".  A lineout just yards from the Australian line ended in another penalty for England and Twickenham suddenly came alive as the English supporters got behind their men.  But Greening -- as he had done on too many occasions during the afternoon -- lofted the throw straight into a Wallaby hand.  It could have proved a crucial miss and while he had a fine game in open play, Greening must rectify his deficiencies in throwing or risk heading out into the international wilderness.

Many England supporters must have felt their chance had slipped away as Australia seemingly cleared their lines but those who left early to beat the rush missed the thrilling, if a little controversial ending.

England manager Clive Woodward believes the win could be a defining moment for English rugby:  "It's very significant.  It would have been a masive setback if we had lost here today.  But there's a lot to work on as we didn't play well -- perhaps that makes it all the better, that we didn't play that well but can still get a win."

Skipper Martin Johnson was pleased with his side's last ditch victory but also had some reservations over England's total performance.

"I've got mixed feelings at the moment as we didn't play well in the second half and thought we'd blown it.  We failed to make the most of some opportunities."

"We've had some bad video calls in the past so I was quite pessimistic even though Dan was certain he had scored it.  But great respect for Australia as they've had a long 12 months of rugby and came here with four of five players missing," he added.

England 22 Australia 19 (12-9)

England Try:  Luger
Conversion:  Wilkinson
Penalties:  Wilkinson (4)
Drop Goals:  Wilinson (1)

Australia Try:  Burke
Conversion:  Burke
Penalties:  Burke (4)

South Africa 37 Argentina 33

An at times exhilarating and at times haphazard Springbok team scraped to a hard fought 37-33 win over Argentina in a one off Test played at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires.

River Plate Stadium is usually a venue for soccer and in an encouraging sign for Argentinean rugby the stadium was packed with over 45,000 fans as enthusiastic and colourful as any soccer crowd.

Coming into the cauldron just before kick off the Boks must have felt what it's like to be the visitors at Ellis Park as they were met by a deafening wall of sound which only increased minutes later with the entry of the beloved Los Pumas.

With buckets of confetti raining down on to the field and large flags unfurling in the breeze the Boks would have been well aware they were in for a match.

From the kick-off it was clear the Springbok's new coach Harry Viljoen had given the team clear directions to hold onto the ball at all costs with South Africa opting to run the ball out from their own line through five phases when a clearing kick would have been a much safer option.

Eventually a long Joost van der Westhuizen pass across his posts saw André Venter trapped five metres out and forced to concede a penalty.  Flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada goaled for the Pumas to take a well received 3-0 lead.

Despite the disastrous start the Boks stuck to their game plan and seven nmiutes later their high risk approach paid off with a try to Western Province wing Breyton Paulse.

From a Bok line-out on their own 10 metre line, half breaks from Van der Westhuizen and new flyhalf Percy Montgomerey, saw fullback Thinus Delport away on the left hand side before sending Paulse in for the try.

Montgomery missed the conversion but two minutes later Paulse was over again.

Again from a line-out and a good throw from hooker John Smit, surprisingly preferred in the line-up to Charl Marais, found lock Albert van den Berg with a pinpoint throw.  Again a half break from Montgomery saw Smit set up a ruck about 20 metres out from the Pumas line.

Van der Westhuizen put Venter through a gap before he linked with fellow flanker Corné Krige who once again found Paulse in support for the Province speedster to go over for his second try.  Montgomery landed the conversion to put South Africa out 12-3.

The no kicking, keep the ball at all costs, high risk Viljoen game plan was clicking into overdrive and it seemed the Pumas were in for a drubbing.  But it was the Pumas who were to strike back immediately.

From the deep kick off South Africa again refused to kick the ball out of trouble and after several phases prop Robbie Kempson spilt the ball on his own 22.  Clever work from live wire Pumas scumhalf Agustin Pichot put centre Jose Orengo down the right touchline before crashing through Bok winger Chester Williams to score.

Quesada landed the conversion from near the touchline and the Boks new game plan had scored 12 points but conceded ten in just the first 14 minutes.

With the Boks playing such a high tempo ball in hand approach the Pumas dreaded "bajada" (eight man shove) in the scrum was taken out of the equation giving South Africa free reign to express their creativity.

Everytime the Boks went wide they seemed to rip holes in the flimsy Pumas defence with centre Robbie Fleck, Williams and Delport all prominent.  With good service from Van der Westhuizen and Montgomery dangerous with the ball in hand it seemed only a matter of time till the Boks scored again.

And in the 28th minute it was Delport who broke away after some good lead up work once more from Smit.  Delport's pass was knocked down but smart work from Paulse saw the ball scooped up and fed to lock Mark Andrews who had a free run to the line.

It was a fitting moment for Andrews in his record 65th Test, scoring his first try since the Tri-Nations in 1997.  Montgomery landed the conversion to take the Boks out to a 19-10 lead.

Seven minutes later the Boks extended their lead after a Pumas line out ball was pinched by Van den Berg.  The ball came wide to Williams who linked with Krige.  The ball came back mid-field and centre Braam van Straaten, who had come on only minutes before for Grant Esterhuizen, crashed over.

Montgomery missed the conversion but at 24-10 up after 35 minutes the Boks were cruising.  Two penalty goals fromn Quesada pegged the Boks lead back to 24-16 at the half time break.

Some bright, enterprising rugby in the first half from the Boks and with the rare distinction of not resorting to one kick in the entire period the instruction from Viljoen to his men must have been more of the same in the second stanza.

But straight from the kick off the Boks grip on the game began to slip, due mainly to a far more spirited performance from the Pumas who finally gave their home crowd something to cheer about.

It may also have been due to the planned substitutions of Pieter Rossouw for Williams and Marais for Smit that seemed to disrupt the Bok pattern.

The substitution of Marais seemed particularly odd as it was thought Marais would be used in the first half to give the Boks extra strength in the scrum and that the second half, as the game opened up, would far better suit the mobile Smit.

The young Natal hooker had held his own in the scrums in an impresive display and indeed some of the Boks' first half flair seemed to disappear with him.

Quesada landed another penalty in the second minute of the half to bring the Pumas to 24-19 but the Boks were to go further ahead ten minutes later.

With his first real chance Rossouw cut through the Argentinean line to send Paulse and then captain André Vos towards the Pumas tryline.  The ball came across field to Venter, who ran nicely out wide for large sections of the match, who found Fleck coming at pace at the perfect angle.

He went in under the posts to put the Boks out to a 29-19 lead, 31-19 with Montgomery's conversion.  From here it seemed the script read the Boks to run away with it but that would not be counting on the resolve of the Pumas, sparked into life by the brilliant Pichot.

In fact that was to be the Boks last try of the match as they lost their nerve and their shape as the half wore on, resorting to pointless kicks that gave the Pumas back the ball in good attacking positions.

It was 25 minutes into the second half before the Boks kicked the ball for the first time but after that they were to nearly reach double figures in kicks as the new born baby of Viljoen's game plan well and truly went out with the bathwater.

The Pumas ball retention improved markedly keeping the ball for long stretches with a relentless short passing, hard driving game.  Their patience were rewarded when substitute Felipe Contemponi burst onto a Pichot pass before brushing off Van Straaten and Delport to score under the posts.

The conversion from Quesada and the Pumas were within a try at 31-26.  Sensing an upset the crowd began to urge their heroes on more and more with the cacophony inside the ground rising to deafening levels.

Van Straaten gave the Boks breathing space with a penalty goal but the increased lead was short lived with Pichot again sparking a third try.  A half break down the right saw Quesada freed before making a beautiful flick pass to substitute Eduardo Simone who beat the cover defence with a superb angled run to the line.

The Quesada conversion brough the Pumas within a point with only minutes to play.  Another van Straaten penalty under extreme pressure took the Boks back out to a four point lead but the Pumas were not done yet.

Repeatedly they drove at the Bok line in the final minutes with only the strength of Andrews, Venter and substitute Ollie le Roux keeping them at bay.  A clever turnover from Krige snubbed out the Pumas last chance with Paulse almost increasing the lead in the final seconds, narrowly missing out on an opportunist try after a Marais kick through.

In the end the Boks had achieved a victory but in the process they conceded a record 33 points to Argentina and gave Viljoen the first of many heart failures.

If the Boks were guilty of anything it was a lack of confidence, as it was only when they wavered and departed from their original game plan that the Pumas came back into the match.

The old problems still remain -- Vos' leadership under pressure (at times in the second half it seemed Andrews was the captain), Van Straaten's lack of creativity, Montgomery's unpredictability and Van der Westhuizen's reduced speed -- but among the negatives there were also some positives in the first foray of the Viljoen era.

The Boks have much to do and as they depart for Britain tomorrow, the traditional powers of Ireland, Wales and England will fancy their chances of a rare win against the tentative super power.

The next month is make or break time for the Springboks and they will need to be at their best if they are to return to South Africa with pride intact.

Man of the match:  Although on the losing side, Puma scrumhalf Agustin Pichot was a constant threat making the most of limited opportunities with some darting runs and clever distribution.  With his excellent vision, pace and quick silver service Pichot is fast establishing himself as the number one scrumhalf in world rugby.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Robbie Kempson, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Mark Andrews, 5 Albert Van Den Bergh, 6 Corne Krige, 7 Andre Venter, 8 Andre Vos (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Percy Montgomery, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Robbie Fleck, 14 Chester Williams, 15 Thinus Delport
Reserves:  Ollie Le Roux, Charl Marais, Pieter Rossouw, Braam Van Straaten
Unused:  A.J. Venter, Hottie Louw, Dan Van Zyl

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Ignacio Corletto
Reserves:  Felipe Contepomi, Martin Durand, Roberto Grau, Mario Ledesma Arocena, Eduardo Simone
Unused:  Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Guillermo Ugartemendia

Attendance:  60000
Referee:  Young s.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Andrews M.G. 1, Fleck R.F. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Van Straaten A.J.J. 1
Conv:  Montgomery P.C. 3
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 2

Argentina
Tries:  Arbizu L. 1, Contepomi F. 1, Orengo J. 1
Conv:  Quesada G. 3
Pen K.:  Quesada G. 4

Italy 17 Canada 22

Stand-off Jared Barker netted 17 points for Canada through four penalties, a drop kick and a conversion to lead his team to a 22-17 victory over a largely experimental Italy in Rovigo.

For Italian coach Brad Johnstone it could be a costly loss as well, with rumours circulating that he would be sacked if the Azzurri lost to the 12th ranked North Americans.

Barker opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a 26 metre penalty after the Azzurri were called for offside by referee Didier Mene.

Barker's opposite number Francesco Mazzariol evened it up with a 46 metre effort a few minutes later after Canada were called for offside as well.

It was the James Bay player taking Canada into the lead again with a penalty kick, showing that the Italians would have to pay for the mistakes as his kicking game was on.

Canada showed aggressive defense by the backs, coming up quickly to snuff any Italian threat, and often regaining possession with good work in the rucks by the forwards.

The partisan Italian crowd began to coo in admiration as both Dan Baugh and Rod Snow made punishing runs into the Azzurri forwards, driving for valuable extra metres with each contact.

Italy's work in the lineout seemed effective on their own ball, and Canada began to withdraw quickly on three man throw-ins, setting up a solid defensive wall.

Mazzariol appeared to be putting his team under constant pressure with short kicks, poor decision making and, along with passing problems from debutant scrumhalf Filippo Frati, the Italians had little consistent ball to play with.

Barker slotted two more to take the Canadians into a 12 -3 lead before Mazzariol slotted a 10 metre penalty in the 36th minute and another in the 40th to reduce the lead to 12-9

It was Barker opening the scoring in the second half with a 29 metre drop goal just 56 seconds after the restart.

Both teams were reduced by one as flanker Dan Baugh and wing Denis Dallon were told to sit out for ten minutes after a brawl broke out on the Italian goal line.

A few minutes later another Azzuri penalty on their own goal line gave Morgan Williams a chance to use his quick tap magic to great affect getting within a metre of the line before Kevin Wirachowski rumbled in to get his second try of the tour.  Barker converted to take the lead to 22-9.

In the 67th minute Canada were down to 13 on 14 after Ryan Banks was shown the door for ten minutes following an incident in a ruck.  With the advantage the Italians began to put some impressive passages of play together culminating in an overlap that freed centre Manuel Dallan for a try in the left corner.  Replacement fly half Ramiro Pez could not make the touch line coversion and the Azzurri were within 8, 22-14.

The lack of numbers began to bend the Canadian defense with the Italians attacking late in the game, netting a penalty from Pez in the 39th minute to make the score 22-17.

Canadian captain Al Charron received a sin bin in the 81st minute for offside, and Italy pressed with a kick to the Canadian ten metre line.  After winning the lineout the Italians knocked on in the backline and the final whistle preserved the Canadian victory.

Morgan Williams was named the Jaguar man of the match by a panel of Canadian and Italian journalists.

Italy:  1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi, 3 Andrea Muraro, 4 Wim Visser, 5 Andrea Gritti, 6 Fabio Ongaro, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 8 Carlo Caione, 9 Filippo Frati, 10 Francesco Mazzariol, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Manuel Dallan, 13 Cristian Stoica (c), 14 Luca Martin, 15 Marco Baroni
Reserves:  Luca Mastrodomenico, Andrea De Rossi, Tino Paoletti, Ramiro Pez
Unused:  Nicola Mazzucato, Stefano Saviozzi, Lisandro Villagra

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Harry Toews, 3 Kevin Tkachuk, 4 Mike James, 5 John Tait, 6 Dan Baugh, 7 Alan Charron, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Morgan Williams, 10 Jared Barker, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Nik Witkowski, 14 Winston Stanley, 15 Scott Stewart
Reserves:  Gregor Dixon, Kevin Wirachowski
Unused:  Dale Burleigh, John Cannon, Garth Cooke, Nick Milau, Jeff Tomlinson

Referee:  Didier Mene
Touch Judges:  Joel Dume, Joel Jutge

Points Scorers:

Italy
Tries:  Dallan M. 1
Pen K.:  Mazzariol F. 3, Pez R. 1

Canada
Tries:  Wirachowski K.M. 1
Conv:  Barker J. 1
Pen K.:  Barker J. 4
Drop G.:  Barker J. 1

Ireland 78 Japan 9

At Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland duly overwhelmed Japan, although they failed to top the 100 point mark some were expecting with a 78-9 win.

Wing Denis Hickie grabbed a hat-trick as the home side ran in a total of eleven tries.

Right from the kick-off the Japanese were penalised for going over the top and Ireland's fly-half Ronan O'Gara landed the penalty goal from 30 metres after just one minute's play.

But Japan hit back almost immediately when Ireland's full-back Geordan Murphy was penalised for not releasing the ball and Keiji Hirose equalised with a penalty goal from 42 metres.

After 12 minutes play Hirose put Japan into the lead with his second penalty goal, this time from 20 metres after the Irish had been caught offside.

Murphy made amends by scoring Ireland's first try which was converted by O'Gara.  Six minutes later Ireland increased the lead when an attacking move by Keith Wood was carried on by Malcolm O'Kelly, O'Gara and Shane Horgan and scrum-half Peter Stringer was put loose to score a try beside the post which O'Gara converted.

Eight minutes before half-time Ireland's right wing Dennis Hickie ran from defence and outwitted the Japanese cover to score a superb individual try which O'Gara failed to convert.  Five minutes before the interval Ireland went over the top as a ruck after defensive dithering by Murphy and Hirose kicked his third penalty goal.

Ireland struck back almost immediately when Hickie again outwitted the defence to score Ireland's fourth try which O'Gara converted.

By the end of the third quarter Ireland had increased their lead to 57-9 by piling on 28 points.  Just after half-time left wing Tyrone Howe got in for a try.

The Irish went further ahead when centre Brian O'Driscoll ran in for two tries, before Howe again breached the Japanese defence to score his second try.

In the final quarter Ireland added three more tries scored by Peter Clohessy, Rob Henderson and Dennis Hickie, all converted by O'Gara.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood, 3 John Hayes, 4 Paddy Johns, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Andy Ward, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Tyrone Howe, 15 Geordan Murphy
Reserves:  Rob Henderson, David Humphreys, Gary Longwell
Unused:  Eric Miller, Brian O'Meara, Justin Fitzpatrick, Frankie Sheahan

Japan:  1 T. Fumihara, 2 Noboru Yasuda, 3 Naoto Nakamura, 4 Hiroyuki Tanuma, 5 Karl Todd, 6 Takeomi Ito, 7 Hiroshi Sugawara, 8 Kouichi Kubo, 9 Katsuji Ohara (c), 10 Keiji Hirose, 11 Michinori Oda, 12 Reo Kawai, 13 Hideki Nanba, 14 Patiliai Tuidraki, 15 Daisuke Ohata
Reserves:  Soshi Fuchigami, Mamoru Ito, Yasunori Watanabe
Unused:  Takashi Akatsuka, Masao Amino, Masahiko Toyoyama, Hideyuki Yoshida

Referee:  Whitehouse n.

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Clohessy P.M.N. 1, Henderson R.A.J. 1, Hickie D.A. 3, Howe T.G. 2, O'Driscoll B. 2, Murphy G.E.A. 1, Stringer P. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R. 10
Pen K.:  O'Gara R. 1

Japan
Pen K.:  Hirose K. 3

Wales 50 Samoa 6

Wales stormed to a record win over Samoa at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday evening to notch up their first victory over the Islanders since 1988.

It was a good day for Graham Henry's team, particularly recalled No.10 Arwel Thomas who was at the heart of his side's effort and finished the day off with a personal tally of 20 points.  The Swansea maestro thrived in the perfect conditions, the pitch having been saved from a soaking by the sliding roof at the stadium.

Despite suffering an injury scare in the week leading up to the game, Neath wing Shane Williams scored two tries showing an impressive turn of pace against a typically abrasive Samoa side.

Wales started slowly but eventually the gulf in class told between the men in red and a Samoa team who were missing many of their star players through a player boycott.

There were also tries for new skipper Mark Taylor, Northampton's Allan Bateman and Newport lock Ian Gough, while Australian referee Stuart Dickinson also awarded Wales a penalty try in the 69th minute.  "We had to win -- and win well," said coach Henry.  "There was pressure on us to score points against an experienced Samoan side, and I thought we played some good stuff in the second half.

"Having said that, I thought that we were a bit rusty.  It was our first international of the season and hopefully we can move further up the ladder next week when we play the USA.  We need to produce a more complete performance for longer periods of the game."

Wales led by 16 points at half-time and cut loose in the second half and it augurs well for Wales' upcoming matches against the USA and South Africa.

"I am over the moon with the result," said captain Taylor.  "It was a bit nerve-wracking early on and we took time to settle.  But we ended up with six tries, and I have got to be happy with that."

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Garin Jenkins, 3 Ben Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Deiniol Jones, 6 Geraint Lewis, 7 Colin Charvis, 8 Scott Quinnell, 9 Rob Howley, 10 Arwel Thomas, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Scott Gibbs, 13 Mark Taylor (c), 14 Allan Bateman, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Nathan Budgett, James Griffiths, Dafydd James, Neil Jenkins, Spencer John, Andrew Lewis, Rupert Moon

Samoa:  1 Polo Asi, 2 Onehunga Matauiau Esau (c), 3 Tuaifuaina Veiru, 4 Opeta Palepoi, 5 Sika Poching, 6 Luke Mealamu, 7 A. Vaeluaga, 8 Junior Maligi, 9 Stephen So'oilao, 10 Quintan Sanft, 11 Faasuaga Taua, 12 Fa'apulou So'olefai, 13 Fereti Tuilagi, 14 Filipo Toala, 15 Veli Patu
Reserves:  Joe Mamea, Pule Misa, Mahonri Schwalger, Dan Tafeamalii, Setefano Tone
Unused:  Aleki Toleafoa, Ioane Evalu

Referee:  Dickinson s.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Gough I.M. 1, Williams S.M. 2, Penalty Try 1, Bateman A.G. 1, Thomas A.C. 1
Conv:  Thomas A.C. 4
Pen K.:  Thomas A.C. 4

Samoa
Pen K.:  Patu H.V. 1, Sanft Q. 1

New Zealand 39 France 26

Aided by an extraordinarily erratic Wayne Erickson, New Zealand extracted a measure of revenge by grinding out a comfortable 13-point victory over France at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night, winning 39-26.

To be fair though, Erickson handicapped New Zealand as much as he aided them with a display of whistle blowing that at times left the players open-mouthed in their dismay.

But he waited until the final minute to play his trump card in the flabbergast stakes.  With France on the drive, Erickson perhaps saw a chance to curry favour with the Parisians after a less than sympathetic approach towards the locals.

With two All Blacks sprawled beneath him and the ball clutched to his chest as he stared at the lights, French skipper Fabien Pelous was awarded France's second try.

In a way, that decision cancelled an earlier howler when he gave Christian Cullen a try after collecting a pass from Jonah Lomu that was palpably forward.

As a wag remarked, the game could have been dubbed "Nightmare on Erickson Street".  Even without his peculiar interpretation though, this game never came close to being a humdinger.

The last time these two met at last year's World Cup, France stung the Championship favourites with a magnificent display of Gallic flair.  There was very little of it on display at a chilly Paris tonight.

Instead, the boot ruled the first half, with Christophe Lamaison and Andrew Mehrtens exchanging nine penalties.  Lamaison kicked the homeside to a 9-3 lead before committing a string of offences that gave Mehrtens the opportunity to reach 700 Test points.

Mehrtens, who was born in Durban in South Africa before his parents went back home to New Zealand, reached the milestone faster than any other player, eclipsing the record of Michael Lynagh.  The Australian achieved the feat in 54 Tests, while the All Black managed it in 46 internationals.

He scored 15 of those points -- from an eventual match tally of 29 points -- before the break to give the visitors a 15-12 lead.

The second half was a far more purposeful affair, but although the French made all the running, it was the Kiwis who surged to a 36-12 lead.

In the ninth minute of the second half, France were driving the ball up the midddle and where within 10 metres of the All Black line when they were blown, for the umpteenth, for going over the top.

Scrumhalf Justin Marshall took a quick tap and handed to Christian Cullen, who broke with his customary pace.  Tana Umaga, playing at outside centre, received the pass and unleashed Doug Howlett who sped over for the first try.

France continued to bang away at the All Black defence but, with Erickson blowing merrily away, failed to find any way through a magnificently stout Kiwi defence.

Against this almost constant pressure, New Zealand managed to break out of their own half.  Cullen chipped ahead and Lomu collected.  The big fella was hauled to the ground but not before he popped the ball forward for Cullen to finish off his own manoeuvre.

Down 39-12, and with just two minutes of regulation time remaining, replacement wing Philippe Bernat-Salles rounded the Kiwi defence before Erickson's great act of charity ended proceedings.

Man of the match:  Xavier Garbajosa.  Although on the losing side, the French fullback bounced back from last week's poor display and was unfailingly impressive.  His constant darts, on top of his solid defence and quick reading of the game, marked him as a constant threat for the Kiwis.

Villain of the Match:  Wayne Erickson.  Adjectives fail me.  It is not a game that the Australian will recall as one of his finer achievements.

Moment of the Match:  Howlett's try after nine minutes in the second half came when France was on the attack.  They conceded a penalty on New Zealand's 22 and Marshall took it quickly.  He sent it wide to Cullen and eventually to Howlett who scored under the posts.  That put the All Blacks up 25-12 and really put the game beyond the Frenchmen.

The Teams:

New Zealand:  1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Greg Feek, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Ron Cribb, 7 Reuben Thorne, 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Daryl Gibson, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves:  Troy Flavell, Gordon Slater, Carlos Spencer
Unused:  Bruce Reihana, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Taine Randell

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Fabrice Landreau, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 David Auradou, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Christophe Moni, 8 Christophe Juillet, 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Christophe Lamaison, 11 Thomas Lombard, 12 Richard Dourthe, 13 Franck Comba, 14 David Bory, 15 Xavier Garbajosa
Reserves:  Philippe Bernat-Salles, Serge Betsen Tchoua, Olivier Brouzet, Philippe Carbonneau, Pieter De Villiers
Unused:  Olivier Azam, Yann Delaigue

Attendance:  80000
Referee:  Erickson w.

Points Scorers:

New Zealand
Tries:  Howlett D.C. 1, Cullen C.M. 1
Conv:  Mehrtens A.P. 1, Umaga T.J.F. 1
Pen K.:  Mehrtens A.P. 9

France
Tries:  Bernat-Salles P. 1, Pelous F. 1
Conv:  Lamaison C. 2
Pen K.:  Lamaison C. 4

Australia 30 Scotland 9

A convincing second half performance at Murrayfield saw Australia come back from an uninspiring 9-9 half-time score to beat Scotland 30-9 on Saturday.

Once again it was fullback Matt Burke (pictured) who was the main man, scoring a try, three penalties and three conversions for a 20-point personal tally, fresh from his match-winning performance in Paris seven days ago.

Chris Latham and Joe Roff were the other try-scorers for Rod Macqueen's side, who ended nearly four halves of try-less rugby with an expansive second-half display in front of 64,000 fans in Edinburgh -- a record for a non Five/Six Nations Test.

Speaking after the game, Australia coach Rod Macqueen hailed his side's second-half performance, but credited a gallant dfensive display by the Scots, who never made it easy for the world champions.

"We've been finding new combinations, but we looked a bit lost in the first half.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel for us though, and we showed some good structure in the second half.

"Scotland looked to have done a lot of homework, especially on our lineouts.  They were the best team we've come up against in terms of lineouts."

On a surprisingly bright day given the recent flooding in Britain, it was Australian kicking machine Matt Burke who broke the deadlock with a penalty in what was to be a kicking-dominated half after the Scotland scrum made the first of many infringements.

Gregor Townsend made a nervous kicking start for Scotland, putting wide a drop goal early on, but keeping his cool to equalise at 3-3 with a penalty five minutes after Burke's opener.

Glimpses of try-scoring chances were rare in the first half, and as the usually prolific Burke hooked a penalty wide of the posts, the capacity crowd at Murrayfield upped the volume, and appeared to inspire their troops to a string of rolling mauls in Australian territory, ultimately coming away empty handed though.

Townsend kicked Scotland in to the lead soon after with an easy penalty in front of the posts, only for Burke to tie the scores again at 6-6 only two minutes later.

Burke, fresh from kicking Australia to victory with six penalties in Paris against France was increasingly having a big say in proceedings as the game slowed down even further, both packs failing to maintain discipline in and around the ruck.

It was Burke indeed who gave the world champions the lead back after 29 minutes with yet another penalty, before Townsend equalled the scores a minute later with the boot.

Scotland had the chance to snatch a half-time lead after their drive in to the left corner gained momentum in the Australia 22.

As play ground to a halt though the Scot were awarded yet another penalty.  This time the kick from the right touch was too much of an ask for Townsend, as the sides went in neck-and-neck at 9-9.

A dour 50 minutes of solid defensive rugby was finally broken down by the Wallabies, who after a period of sustained pressure on halfway broke through the centres with Stirling Mortlock at pace.  Mortlock held his nerve though and waited for the superbly timed diagonal run of fullback Chris Latham, who scithed through the three-quarters from the 22 for the try, converted by Burke.

The Scottish defensive resolve was always apparent though, and even the most hanging of crossfield Garryowens could not rattle them, as Australia probed in the 22.

The introduction of Elton Flatley at stand-off appeared to have ignited the Australian back line, as their more adventutous play started to develop from depth instead of the stale flat lines of the first 60 minutes, where Kafer looked horizontally more often than forward.

Good rucking from both packs ensured that the ball stayed mainly in the grasp of the forwards, but Scotland's Gregor Townsend and Chris Paterson looked like illuminating the play if only their eight could get them that elusive ball in hand.

The Wallabies though gradually wore down the Scottish battlers upfront, and as the ball sat at the feet of the Australian ruck on halfway, Cordingley spun the ball out to the left, with the three-quarters gaining ground on their weary opponents.

Daniel Herbert surged forwards, and as the defence came up in his face on the 22, shipped the ball out left to the flank for Chris Latham to deftly palm the ball in to Joe Roff's hands five metres out in the corner.

Only Cameron Murray stood between Roff and the try line, and Roff burst through him to claim Australia's second try of the game, with Burke making the touch-line conversion look easy for a 23-9 lead going in to the last 20 minutes.

Australia started to show their class as the second half entered its final stages, with their willingness to get the ball out wide combining with the apparent capitulation of the superb defence shown by Scotland in the first half.

The third try of the game came from the kicking hero Matt Burke, when Joe Roff came off his left wing to burst in to the outside centre channel as the ball was worked right by the Wallabies.

His cutting run on halfway saw him burst through the weak attempted tackle by Allan Bulloch.  Roff sped down the right touchline, before drawing the last defender on the 22 and passing to Matt Burle on the outside to dive in the corner.

Again, not even the sternest of kicking tests could curtail Burke's inspired kicking form, as he slotted over from the right touchline with ease.

The Murrayfield crowd willed Scotland on for a consolation try, but it was not forthcoming, and the day belonged to the world champion Wallabies, who ended the first of their Tests on British soil for this season as 30-9 winners.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Fletcher Dyson, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Bill Young, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 Sam Cordingley, 10 Rod Kafer, 11 Matthew Burke, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Elton Flatley, Nathan Grey, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Chris Whitaker, Jim Williams

Scotland:  1 George Graham, 2 Steve Brotherstone, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Budge Pountney (c), 7 Jon Petrie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Jon Steel, 12 Alan Bulloch, 13 John Leslie, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Richard Metcalfe, Gordon McIlwham, Gordon Bulloch, Jason White
Unused:  Graeme Beveridge, Duncan Hodge, Craig Joiner

Referee:  White c.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Tries:  Burke M.C. 1, Latham C.E. 1, Roff J.W.C. 1
Conv:  Burke M.C. 3
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 3

Scotland
Pen K.:  Townsend G.P.J. 3

Australia 18 France 13

A succession of missed penalty kicks from French flyhalf Christophe Lamaison proved to be the difference between France and Australia on Saturday night at the Stade de France as Australia ran out 18-13 winners.

Lamaison missed three penalties and centre Richard Dourthe one, while Australian wing Matt Burke made no mistake with six attempts at goal.  The game had its fair share of drama before kick-off, with the news that in-form fullback Thomas Castaignede would not take part in the game.  Castaignede had been in doubt in the build-up, but now talk is that the Saracens star might have a torn or broken an Achilles tendon, which could keep him out of the game for a considerable time.

Xavier Garbajosa, who would no doubt have had bad memories from the last time he played against Australia, replaced Castaignede.  Stade Francais prop Pieter de Villiers was brought on to the bench to replace Garbajosa, which was about as surprising as the initial front row selected for the match.

The French made all the play in the first quarter of the match, but it was Australia's Matt Burke who got the scoreboard ticking over with a well-taken penalty in the 20th minute.  Before then Lamaison had already missed his first kick of the day, which, it must be said, was a long-range effort.

Lamaison's restart was knocked forward by Wallaby lock David Giffin from restart and it almost resulted in a try for French centre Franck Comba.  Comba rounded his Australian counterpart Stirling Mortlock with ease, but a quick recovery from the Brumbies utility saw him ankle-tap the French No.12 and avoid the five-pointer.

The Wallabies managed to work their way out of their own territory and when Burke was given another shot at goal, he didn't miss, making it 6-0 to the Wallabies.

Shortly before half-time Lamaison managed to get his team on the board with a penalty after Australia went off-sides, but from the restart, France were penalised for the same offence.  Burke stepped up and put his team into a 9-3 lead at the break.

With the second half only minutes old, the French were given a chance to cut the lead back to three points after Australia were penalised for collapsing a maul, but Lamaison missed the kick again.

When the French were awarded their second penalty of the half the kicking duties went to centre Richard Dourthe.  Dourthe followed Lamaison's example by missing the kick at goal, but the crowd seemed more upset than usual.  Some quarters of the crowd had noticed on the big-screen replay that the kick had in fact crept over the crossbar.  Scottish referee Jim Fleming ruled that the kick was not over, whereas replays after the match proved that it was.

Burke was soon presented with another kick at goal after some incessant pressure from the Wallabies resulted in a professional foul from French halfback Fabien Galthie.

The restart from Lamaison saw the ball spilt forward by the French, but with the referee playing advantage for Australia the Wallabies got the ball down their backline.  Daniel Herbert couldn't get the ball to his wing, but the French had gone off-sides by then.  Burke again -- and the Wallabies led 15-3.

Going into the last 10 minutes of the match, Burke had stretched the lead to 18-3 and it seemed as if the match was going to fizzle out into a big Wallaby win, but it all changed when debutante flanker George Smith was penalised and sent to the sin bin for a dangerous and high tackle on Comba.  It's questionable whether or not referee Paul Honiss was in the right, but it seemed to spur the French on.

Some of the best rugby of the match was played in the period Smith spent in the bin, and the dreadlocked rookie must've been hoping that his exit didn't leave too much of a void.  But Smith's worst fears would have been confirmed when French prop Christian Califano drove over from close-in.  The French could smell blood and Lamaison's conversion was greeted with relief from the crowd.

Lamaison soon added another kick, this time a penalty, and with three minutes left it was game on, but the Wallabies were afforded the luxury of completing the game with Smith, whose time in the sin bin was over.

The Wallaby defence held firm in the closing stages, which forced Lamaison into a kick ahead in the Australian in-goal area.  Australian fullback Chris Latham managed to get there first and when dotted down was greeted with the final whistle.

Man of the match:  Matt Burke.  At the end of the day Burke's goalkicking proved to be the difference between the two teams.  He slotted back into the Wallaby team, in the unfamiliar role of right wing, as if he had been playing there all year.

Moment of the match:  The sin-binning of George Smith seemed to raise France's performance.  It allowed them an overlap, but it also seemed to make them play with more purpose and allowed for a pulsating finish.  The decision from Mr Honiss seemed a bit harsh at the time.  While one can't argue that it was dangerous, there was no intent to harm and perhaps a warning could have sufficed.

Villain of the match:  In a match of this magnitude, touch-judge Jim Fleming's decision on Dourthe's "missed" penalty was shocking.  While it was a tough call to make, if he had any doubt at all he should have told the ref.  Even Wallaby wing Matt Burke conceded after the game that he thought the kick was over.

The teams:

Australia:  1 Fletcher Dyson, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Bill Young, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 Sam Cordingley, 10 Rod Kafer, 11 Matthew Burke, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves:  Mark Connors, Jeremy Paul, Glenn Panoho, Jim Williams
Unused:  Elton Flatley, Nathan Grey, Chris Whitaker

France:  1 Christian Califano, 2 Fabrice Landreau, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 4 Olivier Brouzet, 5 Fabien Pelous (c), 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Christophe Moni, 8 Christophe Juillet, 9 Fabien Galthie, 10 Christophe Lamaison, 11 Thomas Lombard, 12 Richard Dourthe, 13 Franck Comba, 14 David Bory, 15 Xavier Garbajosa
Reserves:  David Auradou, Olivier Azam, Serge Betsen Tchoua, Franck Tournaire
Unused:  Philippe Carbonneau, Yann Delaigue, Pieter De Villiers

Attendance:  65000
Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Australia
Pen K.:  Burke M.C. 6

France
Tries:  Galthie F. 1
Conv:  Lamaison C. 1
Pen K.:  Lamaison C. 2

Scotland 53 United States 6

Date:  04 Nov 2000
Venue:  Murrayfield
Attendance:  35638
Referee:  Deluca p.

Gregor Townsend's virtuoso performance helped Scotland beat the United States 53-6 at Murrayfield, giving the Scots an ideal start to their autumn Test programme.

The game only came to life for the 35,638 crowd in the second half when the hosts rattled in five tries without replay after leading 15-3 at the interval.

Townsend, restored at fly-half, kicked four successive penalties in the opening quarter as Scotland ran into an early 12-0 lead.

But Scotland's focus wavered and the Americans responded, full-back Kurt Shuman prevented from scoring by some determined Scottish defence.

Roused by the scare Scotland reorganised and Townsend, intelligently drawing his cover defence, allowed John Leslie to snipe through but he was caught in possession when attempting to feed the unmarked Jon Steel.

Fly-half Grant Wells put America on the board with a well struck 25-yard penalty goal on the half-hour mark to reduce the deficit to nine points as his team applied pressure.

Scotland were increasingly becoming frustrated by the Americans' persistent infringement of the offside line as well as their own inability to penetrate through well-timed support.

With the break beckoning Townsend extended Scotland's interval lead to 15-3 with his fifth penalty goal of the evening as the United States strayed offside again.

Responding to coach Ian McGeechan's dressing down at the break, Scotland resumed the second period in more determined heart.

But America refused to lie down and in reality offered far more than simple raw courage and commitment.

In the 50th minute Scotland's persistence was finally rewarded when Leslie, a pivotal figure in the Scots' second-half resurgence, snaffled Shuman's misdirected pass and Bryan Redpath fed Budge Pountney, who scored from close range.

Five minutes later Scotland increased their advantage following some slack building-up play.

Scott Murray palmed a line-out ball after Scotland had kicked a penalty to touch and Leslie crashed over.

The Americans' resolve had now gone and with the ship creaking Chris Paterson (pictured) finished off in the far left-hand corner on the hour mark after John Petrie's blind-side surge had caught the Americans napping.

In the 62nd minute Wells suddenly found his kicking boots, converting a second American penalty goal to give his side some relief.

But Scotland were now well in charge and in the 67th minute Townsend effectively ended the game as a contest, knifing through a gap after Cammie Murray's initial incision.  The Scotland stand-off also converted and Scotland were cruising.

In a rousing finale Scotland scored two further tries as their penetration and cutting edge reduced the Americans to bemused bystanders.

In the 79th minute Leslie, now back to full fitness since injuring his ankle against South African in the World Cup last October, cut loose to score his second try.

Not to be outdone, though, Townsend extended the final margin of victory with a superb try of his own, shimmying his way through two attempted tackles to score.

Scotland
Tries:  Budge Pountney, John Leslie (2), Chris Paterson, Gregor Townsend (2)
Conversions:  Townsend (4)
Penalties:  Townsend (5)

United States
Penalties:  Grant Wells (2)